Indian Boxing Council plans a packed annual calendar

By The Week Correspondent
| November 09, 2016

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A day after it was announced that India's leading Pro boxer Vijender Singh would defend his WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title in New Delhi next month, Pro Boxing took another step forward in India with the Indian Boxing Council announcing resumption of regular fight nights at home.

IBC has announced four Pro Boxing Nights over the next four months. The season unfolds in North-East India, Guwahati, with the IBC-3 Fight Card in January. This is a precursor to IBC’s mega plans to construct a complete training and competition structure across the country.

The IBC-3 Fight Card will have on offer an Indian National title, a North-East Zone title and an Assam State title belt for Guwahati, it was announced on Wednesday.

IBC is the pro boxing governing body licensed by the World Boxing Organization, World Boxing Association and the Commonwealth Boxing Council, to sanction, run, govern, train, regulate, structure and conduct professional boxing in India.

Recently, one of India's most famous boxers—Commonwealth Games medalist Akhil Kumar announced his decision to turn pro alongside another senior amateur boxer Jitender Kumar.

“We have already signed some big names of Indian Boxing, who are eagerly waiting to launch their pro career with IBC Fight Nights. Talks are in final stages and signing are being completed with many other mega stars. The exciting announcements will be made soon,” said the IBC President, Brigadier, P.K. Muralidharan Raja.

“IBC has drawn a year-long calendar for pro boxing competitions at various levels. The pan-India structure will cover all geographical zones –North, South, Central, East, West and North-East,”added Brigadier Raja.

IBC-3 Fight Card at Guwahati on January 14, 2017, will feature more than 50 rounds of pound for pound action, where lead Indian professionals will challenge their counterparts from Thailand. IBC-4 is scheduled for January 28, 2017, at Hyderabad, to be followed by IBC 5 at Kolkata on February 15, 2017. IBC-4 and IBC-5 will feature challengers from Korea and China respectively.

The season will culminate with the IBC-6 grand title bout night at Chennai on March 11, 2017, where the IBC national titles in six weight categories for men and three weight categories for women will be decided. The champions of the night will also qualify for the Asian Title Challenge, to be hosted by IBC in Season 2 which will also feature World Title challenge bouts.

The marquee fights in the IBC-3, 4 and 5 Fight Nights will feature 8 rounds each, while the other major bouts will be of six rounds each. The marquee bouts in the title night will be decided over 10 rounds whereas other belts will feature eight-round contests.

The fight nights will be broadcast live on the national television with English and Hindi commentary. Talks are also underway with the regional channels, for which the commentary will be in local language, IBC stated in a media release.